Vitali MG50 Heavy Machine Gun
| Vitali MG50 Heavy Machine Gun | |
|---|---|
 A modern MG50QCB. | |
| Type | Heavy machine gun |
| Place of origin |  Cacertian Empire |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1918 – present |
| Used by |  Cacerta Ruvelka |
| Wars | Divide War Siduri War Refusal War FedCom Civil War Imerti Conflict Nalayan Civil War Zemplen War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Ilsa Vitali |
| Designed | 1917 |
| Manufacturer | Vitali Heavy Industries Ruvelya Fegyverzet |
| Produced | 1918 – present |
| No. built | ~3 million |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 38.0 kg (83.78 lbs) 58.0 kg (127.87 lbs) with tripod and traverse and elevation mechanism |
| Length | 1,654 mm (65.1 in) |
| Barrel length | 1,143 mm (45 in) |
| Cartridge | 12.7×99mm |
| Action | Short recoil-operated |
| Rate of fire | 450 – 600 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 890 m/s (2,910 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 1,800 m (2,000 yd) |
| Maximum firing range | 7,400 m (8,100 yd) |
| Feed system | Belt-fed |
The Vitali MG50 HMG is a heavy machine gun designed near the close of the Divide War by Ilsa Vitali. Similar in design the earlier Vitali MG30, which was chambered for the 7.62×63mm cartridge, the MG50 utilizes the much larger and more powerful 12.7×99mm. It is utilized extensively by all branches of the Cacertian Armed Forces for its effectiveness against infantry, lightly armored vehicles, boats, and light fortifications.
The gun first saw combat during the tail end of the Divide War, but was later used heavily during the Siduri War in which it was later adopted for use with the Ruvelkan military. It is the primary heavy machine gun for both Cacerta and Ruvelka and saw usage in several post-Siduri War conflicts which included the FedCom Civil War, Imerti Conflict, Nalayan Civil War, and the more recent Zemplen War. The MG50 is characterized for being the oldest small arm still in service with the Cacertian military.
History
Development
Machine guns were heavily employed during Divide War and as the conflict continued, larger than rifle caliber cartridges began appearing on both sides. These larger rounds were being introduced as a result of increased armor being utilized during the battlefield, both on the ground and in the air. The introduction of the Syara Ascalaphus in June 1917, a heavily armored airplane, rendered anti-aircraft machine guns using conventional rifle ammunition ineffective.
As a result, the Royal Army Invasion Forces’ commanders, Bertino Bassadoar and Orsa Calderara, immediately requested the development of a larger caliber machine gun. Observations of the effectiveness of captured Syaran 11mm incendiary armor-piercing ammunition led to the creation of seven experimental Cacertian machine guns rechambered for a near exact copy of the cartridge, but it was found unsuitable for the Royal Army due to its low velocity.
In August 1917, Ilsa Vitali—daughter of Vitali Heavy Industries founder Giovanni Vitali—began redesigning her father’s .30 caliber MG30 for a larger and more powerful cartridge. In conjunction with Durante Masterworks, a scaled up version of the standard 7.62×63mm was developed and while it was initially rimmed for use in anti-tank rifles, it was later made rimless at the request of Bassadoar. The first prototype of the new heavy machine gun underwent trials in September 1917; the gun was heavy, difficult to control, its fire rate was considered too slow for the anti-personnel role, and it was not initially powerful enough against armor.
Captured Syaran anti-tank rifles and ammunition were later seized. These Syaran anti-armor rounds had a muzzle velocity of 820 m/s (2,700 ft/s), a 52 g (800 gr) bullet, and could penetrate 25 mm (~1 in) of armor at a range of 230 m. Durante improved their cartridge to have similar performance which ultimately had a muzzle velocity of 840 m/s (2,750 ft/s).
Ilsa’s efforts resulted in a water-cooled .50 caliber machine in conjunction with an aerial version for use on Cacerta’s airships, although it was still not entirely considered exactly what the Royal Army requested. By December 1917, Ilsa had studied the original design problems and eventually developed a receiver design that could be converted into seven different types of heavy machine guns by using different jackets, barrels, and other components as well as allowing for either left or right side feeding.
Her final design did away with the water jacket entirely, replacing the light-weight barrel with an air-cooled heavy barrel. The increased mass and surface area compensated somewhat for the loss of water-cooling, but it greatly reduced the bulk and weight of the machine gun; the original water-cooled MG50 weighed 55 kg (121 lbs) whereas the heavy-barreled MG50 weighed 38 kg (84 lbs). An aircraft version which weighed 27 kgs was also developed and became the standard aviation machine gun of both the Cacertian Royal Air Fleet and the Royal Navy.
Design Details
The Vitali MG50 is an air-cooled belt-fed machine gun that fires from a closed bolt operating on a short-recoil principle. It fires a .50 caliber cartridge known for long range, accurate stopping power and its closed bolt firing system allowed it to be used as a synchronized machine gun on aircraft during the Siduri War.
Features
The MG50 has varying cyclic rates of fire depending on the variant. The standard MG50 air-cooled ground gun has a cyclical rate of 450 – 575 rounds per minute with the version built for aircraft possessing a cyclical rate of 750 – 850 rpm. These maximum rates of fire are generally not achieved in use, as sustained fire wears out the bore within several thousand rounds. In addition to fully automatic fire, it can also be set to fire single-shots or less than 40 rounds per minute. Slow and rapid firing modes use 5 – 7 round bursts with different lengths of pause.
The MG50 has an effective range of 1,830 meters and maximum effective range of 2,000 meters when fired from its tripod. In its ground-portable, crew-served role, the gun itself weighs 38 kg (84 lbs) with the tripod weighing another 20 kg (44 lbs). In this configuration, the MG50 is normally equipped with a v-shaped butterfly trigger and speed grips. More recently, newer rear buffer assembles now have squeeze triggers mounted into the grips and doing away with the butterfly triggers.
Since the MG50 was meant to operate in several configurations, it can be adapted to feed from the left or right side of the receiver by exchanging the belt-holding pawls and front and rear cartridge stops. The top-cover belt feed slide assembly also must be converted from left to right hand feel as well as the spring and plunger in the feed arm. The design of the MG50 allows it to easily be interchanged on the battlefield which eliminates the need to have the weapon removed from service.
Ammunition
There are several different types of ammunition used in the MG50. Between its introduction in the Divide War through the FedCom Civil War, the MG50 used standard ball, armor-piercing, armor-piercing incendiary, and armor-piercing incendiary tracer. All ammunition designated as armor-piercing is capable of perforating 24mm of hardened steel armor at a distance of 100 meters. The API and APIT rounds leave a flash, report, and smoke on contact useful in detecting strikes on enemy targets and are primarily employed to incapacitate think-skinned and lightly armored vehicles and aircraft.
In the modern era, the ammunition includes ball, API, API-T, SLAP and SLAP-T; the latter ammunitions (acronyms for Saboted Light Armor Penetrator) are capable of penetrating 35 mm of face-hardened steel plate at 500 meters and 25 mm at 1,200 meters. This is achieved by using a 7.5 mm tungsten penetrator. The SLAP-T adds a tracer charge to the base of the ammunition.
Service History
Cacerta
At the onset of the Siduri War, the Cacertian Empire had versions of the MG50 in service as fixed aircraft guns, anti-aircraft defensive guns, infantry guns, and dual purpose anti-aircraft and anti-vehicular weapons on vehicles.
In the dual-purpose vehicle mount, the MG50 proved extremely effective; the .50 caliber AP and API rounds were capable of penetrating the engine block and fuel tanks of Syaran and Allamunnik fighters attacking at low altitude and perforate the hull plates and fuel tanks of Common Sphere half-tracks and light armored cars. It was even capable of penetrating some of the more lightly armored sections of the Amycus, Centaurus, and the Elatus. Units in the field often modified the mountings on their vehicles, especially tanks and tank destroyers, to provide more operator protection in the anti-vehicular and anti-personnel role.
Heavy weapons units in Cacertian infantry battalions or regiments were issued MG50 with tripod mounts which were often put to use in a defensive role or to interdict road sections from use by Common Sphere infantry and motorized forces. There were numerous instances of the MG50 being used against enemy infantry or for interdiction against enemy artillery observers or sharpshooters at distances considered too great for standard infantry weapons.
The MG50 was later used by Cacerta in the FedCom Civil War and during its participation in the Nalayan Civil War.
Ruvelka
Ruvelkan use of the MG50 began following the fall of Ruvelka and the subsequent founding of the Ruvelkan Army-in-Exile. Ruvelkan units fighting in the Siduri War were primarily equipped with Cacertian-built armored fighting vehicles and the MG50 came as a standard armament, both on Cacertian-produced 33M medium tanks, 30M light tanks, and Zanzaras. Ruvelkan soldiers praised the effectiveness of the MG50 and considered it unrivaled in its class.
After the Siduri War, the MG50 was officially adopted as the heavy machine gun of the Ruvelkan armed forces and has since seen action in modern conflicts such as the Imerti Conflict and the Zemplen War. In the 1950s, Vitali Heavy Industries granted Ruvelya Fegyverzet rights to natively produced the MG50 within Ruvelka. Today, the MG50 serves in Ruvelka as an infantry crew-served heavy machine gun, door guns aboard Halászsas gunships, and remote-controlled external coaxial guns on armored vehicles.
Users
- The MG50 is employed by all branches of the Cacertian armed forces in varying roles. Adopted in 1918, it is the longest serving small in the Cacertian military.
- The Ruvelkan military officially adopted the MG50 following the end of the Siduri War in 1938.